Section 8 Supporting Dedicated Servers on 360

TimeGate and SouthPeak's upcoming guns-and-jetpacks shooter will have an edge over most 360 multiplayer games when it launches with support for dedicated servers hosted on your own PC.

The console versions of online games like Team Fortress 2 are often the targets of critique when it comes to their player counts, which typically are dwarfed by their PC brethren. TimeGate Studios' Section 8, a promising shooter I said recalled Tribes in the best way possible, won't be as easily marked as inferior when it launches later this year with support for dedicated servers that will drastically upgrade its player limits online.

When the game launches on 360, it'll come with "X Server" technology that will allow players to use their PCs as dedicated servers for online matches. That'll ratchet up the player limit for a match from a somewhat measly 16 to a hefty 32. The PC version will support up to 40 players at once with dedicated servers and 32 without.

"FPS fans looking for the perfect multiplayer game expect fast, reliable servers when they're playing online. We go one step further by offering an increased player count and boosting the game play experience to a new level," said Richard Iggo of SouthPeak. "We're confident that Section 8's incredible team-based combat and our adoption of cutting-edge server technology provide an experience unlike anything else out there."

You're going to want to play Section 8 on a dedicated server when it comes out, judging from my time with the game. The maps are rather huge, and if you're in the middle of nowhere with nobody around you, the action can get a little sparse. The only question, then, is how many people are willing to go through the process of turning their PC into a server and maintaining it. Hopefully some people will be happy to volunteer, for the sake of everyone else.